BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA

DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2009
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
 
Today's observations:
 
7 A.M.
Weather: Clear, few distant stratocumulus all quadrants
Temperature: 19F, Dew point: 8F, Wind: WSW at 16G26 kts,
Wind: Peak gust 30 kts WSW at 6:07 A.M.
Sea-level pressure: 29.49 inches Hg, rising
Visibility: 30 miles
6-hour minimum temperature: 18F
6-hourly precip: Trace
24-hourly precip. 0.34 inch
24-hourly snowfall: 0.4 inches
Snow depth on ground: Trace
BHO SA 1155 CLR 30 988/19/8/2516G26/949/
TOTAL NEW SNW PST 24 HRS 0.4 INS PK WND 2530/07/
8/500 53013 MANUAL 6000/ MANUAL 70034 ASOS 70035 10022 20018
 
10 A.M.
Weather: Broken stratocumulus, virga distant W-NW
Temperature: 24F, Dew point: 8F, Wind: SW at 21G30 kts,
Wind: Peak gust 31 kts SW at 9:31 A.M.
Wind: Direction variability S-W
Sea-level pressure: 29.52 inches Hg, rising
Visibility: 35 miles
BHO SA 1455 E40 BKN 35 998/24/8/2321G30/952/ VIRGA DSNT W-NW
PK WND 2431/31 WND 19V27/ 8/500 51010
 
1 P.M.  
Weather: Overcast stratocumulus, small breaks in
overcast S, virga S-NW
Temperature: 25F, Dew point: 8F, Wind: SW at 18G36 kts,
Wind: Peak gust past hour 37 kts SW at 12:00 P.M.
Wind: direction variable S-NW
Sea-level pressure: 29.53 inches Hg, rising
Visibility: 30 miles 
6-hour maximum temperature: 26F
BHO SA 1755 E50 OVC 30 999/25/8/2418G36/953/ SML BRKS IOVC S
VIRGA S-NW PK WND 2337/00 WND 19V31/ 8/5// 53001 10026 20019
 
WEATHER SUMMARY FOR THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19
 
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....46    NORMAL.....37
MIN.....24    NORMAL.....21
MEAN....35    NORMAL.....29
 
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL.................+6
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH................+54 [+2.6 DEGREES/DAY]
 
HEATING DEGREE DAYS
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY.............30  DEPARTURE.........-6
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH............661  DEPARTURE........-58
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON..........4229  DEPARTURE........-26
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.....3854  DIFFERENCE......+375
 
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY............43  W  AT 10:47 P.M.
                   AEROVANE.............44  W  AT 10:47 P.M.
                   ASOS.................41 WNW AT 10:47 P.M.
                   DAVIS................40  W  AT 10:47 P.M.
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY..............35  W  AT 10:47 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE...........31  W  AT 10:38 P.M.      
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE..........30  W  AT 10:48 P.M.     
                   AVERAGE............11.8
                   ASOS...............10.8
                   DAVIS..............10.7  WSW [242 DEGREES]
 
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M.....0.34  DEPARTURE.........+0.20
                         ASOS...............0.35
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH...........1.34  DEPARTURE.........-1.39
                         ASOS...............1.28
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR............5.50  DEPARTURE.........-2.01
                         ASOS...............6.48 # *
# Includes erroneous ASOS precipitation data on 1/1/09 and 1/2/09
 
SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.4   DEPARTURE.........-0.1
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................8.5   DEPARTURE.........-3.0 #
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............63.6   DEPARTURE........+22.7 #
# The monthly and seasonal snowfall departure were incorrect
  in yesterday's report.
 
PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY 2009 CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATA REPORTED:
DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/ PEAK GUST/AERO GUST
AERO: Aerovane recording wind system gust when significant
TSTM: Thunderstorm day (thunder heard some time during day)
....: Data not yet available, records not finalized
 
2/1  45/15/30/+4/0/0/402/67          35 SW
2/2  50/32/41/+15/0/0/568/94         29 NNW
2/3  33/22/28/+2/0.44/5.6/000/00     39 N    AERO 38 MPH N 
2/4  24/10/17/-9/0.05/0.9/572/94     37 WNW
2/5  17/3/10/-17/0/0/538/88          33 W
2/6  26/4/15/-12/0/0/509/83          26 W
2/7  42/16/29/+2/0/0/314/51          45 S    AERO 44 MPH S
2/8  49/30/40/+13/0/0/433/70         54 W    AERO 54 MPH W
2/9  37/21/29/+2/0/0/621/100         38 WNW  AERO 38 MPH WNW
2/10 36/22/29/+2/0/0/006/01          21 SSE
2/11 59/34/47/+20/0/0/482/77         29 SSE  AERO 24 MPH SSE
2/12 51/37/44/+16/0.13/0/063/10      54 WSW  AERO 54 MPH WSW
2/13 38/24/31/+3/0/429/68            47 W    AERO 47 MPH W
2/14 39/20/30/+2/0/0/595/94          42 W    AERO 40 MPH W
2/15 39/23/31/+3/0/0/637/100         30 NW   AERO 28 MPH NW
2/16 35/21/28/0/0/0/633/99           23 NW   
2/17 35/19/27/-2/0/0/641/100         21 NW 
2/18 41/24/33/+4/0.25/1.6/.../..     33 E    AERO 33 MPH E
2/19 46/24/35/+6/0.34/0.4/.../..     43 W    AERO 44 MPH W
 
2/20 morning low temp. 18F since midnight; our normal low 21F
 
NEW DAILY RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 2009...
 
None to date
 
DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):
 
RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 20
HIGH 66F IN 1930
LOW -4F IN 1966
PRECIP 1.90 INCHES IN 1934
SNOWFALL 15.0 INCHES IN 1921,1934
PEAK GUST 78 MPH NW IN 1972
 
RECORDS FOR FEBRUARY 21
HIGH 62F IN 1930
LOW -6F IN 1950
PRECIP 2.42 INCHES IN 1898
SNOWFALL 9.0 INCHES IN 1929
PEAK GUST 72 MPH WNW IN 1967
 
TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED By: Stephanie Radner